The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for controlling the attitude of a road vehicle cab, and, more particularly, to such apparatus for suppressing externally produced longitudinal changes in attitude of the vehicle cab to thereby enhance riding comfort.
Disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 4-285002 (1952) is a vehicle cab attitude control system in which instructions are provided by an occupant, an optimum control parameter is computed according to existing road surface input status cab attitude is controlled using a new control parameter to thereby improve riding comfort. However, the disclosed system merely suppresses cab movements such as pitch, roll and bounce caused by vertical input from a road surface, and does not suppress cab movement caused by externally generated longitudinal inputs. That deficiency is particularly troublesome for a tractor and trailer combination in which longitudinal input from the trailer results in disturbing acceleration and deceleration of the tractor cab.
The object of this invention, therefore, is to provide an improved vehicle cab control system which suppresses externally caused longitudinal movement and thereby enhance riding comfort.